My Take | Hong Kong people have never had it so good – and felt so bad
- By most objective measures, we ought to count our blessings, but we are all mad as hell and won’t take it anymore
Every day, in every way, we are getting better and better. But don’t tell that to Hong Kong people. They will get really, really mad at you.
I was just reading the latest paean to human progress by The New York Times’ famed columnist and author Nicholas Kristof.
“In the long arc of human history,” he wrote, “2019 has been the best year ever.” He is, no doubt, following the example of Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, who in two recent books, has argued that by practically every objective measure, the world is getting better and better all the time.
I will say the same about Hong Kong. We have never had it so good. Our people live the longest in the world. Our gross domestic product per capita is higher than that of the United States. More young people enrol in local universities than ever. Death from childbirth, whether of the mother or child, is among the world’s lowest.
According to the latest (2019) Human Freedom Index compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute, an independent think tank, Hong Kong ranks third, behind New Zealand and Switzerland, but ahead of Canada, Australia and Germany – all in the top 10 – while Britain (14), the US (15) and Taiwan (19) lag behind.
Electorally, all our district council seats are directly elected, as are more than half the seats in the legislature. After the landslide in last month’s district elections, more opposition figures sit on the Election Committee that selects candidates for the chief executive than ever.